Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1904 — Another Old Building Gone. [ARTICLE]

Another Old Building Gone.

Still another of the ancient landmar ka. which have grown to be ancient eye-soies . and have been improved off the face of the earth ia the old Ellis Walton residence, at the southeast corner of Cullen and Harrison- streets. The building, according to our always careful chronicler of the town’s history, Uncle Jared Benjamin, has stood since 1856, or the comparatively Joug period of 48 years years. It was built by Dr. J. C. Pierce, an early medical praotioioner here and a cousin of Uncle Billy Pierce, who is still with us. The doctor lived in it quite a number of years. Like all the eerly buildings, its frame is of hard native oak, but much of it sawed, .whereas many of the early buildings had most of their timbers of hewn wood. The present owner of the lots, D. 8. Makeever, sold the old building to Hi Day, who has torn it to pieces and who will mitez-j as much as passible of the old material for other purposes. The most of the framing timbers are as sound as they were 50 years ago, and very much harder. The last of the upright timber of the building were leveled to the ground Tuesday afternoon.

We do not understand that the owner of the lot, Mr. Mikeever, intends to make any immediate use of the vacant lots, but that ultimately he will build himself a fine residence there, when he gets ready to leave bis farms and move to town.

Uncle Ellis bought the house in ’SB or ’59 and moved into it in ’6O, living there upward of 40 .years. He gave $250 for the bouse and one lot, and during the war bought the corner lot of E. P. Hammond for $l5O. Thus the whole pro party cost him 1400, and about two years ago he sold it for $2,000. And this represented the value of, the lots alone, the house adding practically nothing to their value. Mr. Walton bought the house of Mr. Lee, a lawyer, and brother in law of Dr. Pieroe, who transfeied it to Lee to stand off his creditors, Dr. Pierce remained here for some time after selling the home, then practiced a while in Lafayette and finally moved to Missouri.

When Uncle Ellis sold the property two years ago, he he had considerable trouble to try to get track of Dr. Pierce, it being his opinion that his deed for the property was destroyed when the court house was burning in 1865. But finally, having failed to locate Pierce or his heirs, he went home and looked in an old drawer where he kept papers, and the original deed was the very first document he laid his eyes on,